VALDOSTA, Ga. — A rising seventh grader was given an opportunity this week to live out his dream as a member of a South Georgia SWAT team.

Brad Marion has wanted to be a SWAT member since he was 5, his mother, Ellen Mulvaney, said.

She said she feels her and his stepfather’s employment in law enforcement plays a role in his dream.

Marion initially asked his teachers to simply meet a SWAT member, but the school took his dream one step further with the help of Valdosta Police Chief Brian Childress and the Valdosta SWAT team.

SWAT team members at Lowndes County’s Emergency Operations Center showed equipment to Marion and gave him a walk-through of the vehicle. After equipping Marion with a vest, he was informed he would be “securing” the EOC building with the rest of the team.

Treating him as one of its own, the team burst through the back doors of the van and began a search of the building, staged as if a criminal were hiding inside.

“There was a man in there who had probably done something wrong,” Marion said of the demonstration. “We were trying to flush him out with a flash bang.”

After a run through the building, Marion was taken back outside where Childress gave him a certificate of appreciation and told the youngster he could take his gear home.

“I had a lot of fun,” Marion said. 

Carver is Lifestyles Editor at the Valdosta, Georgia Daily Times.